Educational mobility across three generations of Finnish-speaking and Swedish-speaking Finns

Abstract

Using total population register data that link three generations, this article studies educational mobility in two native ethno-linguistic groups, Finnish speakers and Swedish speakers in Finland. The purpose is to examine how multigenerational educational mobility takes form in a setting with equal constitutional rights, but with relatively more study places in Swedish at the tertiary level. For the cohorts born 1976–1985, the probability of having a tertiary-level education is 5.6 % points higher for Swedish-speaking men than for Finnish-speaking men, while the difference in women is 8.2 % points. The estimated effects of parents’ and grandparents’ tertiary-level education on offspring educational attainment are largely the same in both ethno-linguistic groups. Compositional differences contribute considerably, however. For men, 41 % of the ethno-linguistic difference in the probability of having tertiary-level education can be attributed to parents’ education, and another 13 % to grandparents’ education. Corresponding numbers for women are 23 % and 5 %, respectively. In the public debate, it should be highlighted that all study places in Swedish in Finland are open to persons with adequate skills in the language, and that they serve to meet the national needs for a sufficient number of persons proficient in Swedish.